Healing Waters (Revised)
by Psycho Yuffie
Summary: This is the revised version of Healing Waters. It has the same idea, but with different execution. Everyone else was fine with throwing Azula in prison for the rest of her life. No one thought there was anything wrong with that, but Katara could not turn her back on the fallen princess. Katara wants to help Azula recover her sanity. Azutara.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Fury can only take you so far. That was clear. It was the only thing that was clear in this dank cell. Azula could hear water dripping somewhere and it was making a flame inside her chest swell. Unfortunately, that was the extent her spirit could muster. She rubbed her parched lips together. They no longer felt like sand paper, instead the skin on her lips was flaking off and constantly oozing a bit of blood. The strength in her legs had failed her a few days ago.

The once proud princess was reduced to little more than a discarded rag doll, after refusing to eat or drink and being thrown away by _her _nation. What was left? What would she do now?

Looking out into the darkness, her amber eyes glowered as her brow tightened. What would she do? What she always did: survive. She would have her throne back someday. For now, she needed to get over her loss. No one understood what happened to her. No one could understand.

Voices coming down the hall made Azula's head perk up. Groaning, she attempted to pick herself up with her feet, but her strength failed her. She fell back to her knees. Azula looked at the door. The only light came from the tiny window. It spilled half-heartedly into the room and gave up limply a few feet away from the door.

Listening, Azula made out the distinctly loud voice of her brother, Zuko. Someone was with him, though. A woman. Who was she? She was talking lower than Zuko, his bark was annoying. Anyway, why were they here? Couldn't they leave her in peace? That familiar flame inside of her was beginning to burn more intently.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish," the Fire Lord said outside of the door.

There was a pause before the unknown woman responded, "You were there, Zuko: you know that she needs help. She'll only get worse in a place like this."

Wait. Azula knew that voice. Now that she was closer, it was easier to hear her. That Water Tribe girl—what was her name again?

"You didn't grow up with her, Katara. She was always like this. Just as twisted." Zuko said.

"I don't know. I had fought with her a few times, but she never looked like she did two weeks ago. All of that fire and confidence that I had grown to expect from her wasn't there."

Azula's lip curled as she bared her clenched teeth. "I can hear you!" she shouted, her voice sounded more raspy and shaky than she wanted.

There was a lengthy pause. She glared at the door, waiting for it to open. Without much surprise she heard the fumbling of a key in the lock and a great_ thunk_ as the lock released. The metal door squealed as it opened and the Fire Lord strode into the room. He almost looked impressive in his royal attire. Almost. Coming in after him, Katara regarded Azula with a soft expression, which Azula responded to by wrinkling her nose. Zuko just looked at her with his constant expression of surreal intensity.

"I wasn't expecting to see either of you again," Azula said.

Zuko looked away. "Neither was I."

"Zuzu," Azula cooed.

The Fire Lord appeared unfazed, keeping his arms stoically at his side, but Azula caught his fist twitch a bit from the nickname.

"We're not your enemies, Azula. The war is over." Katara said, walking toward the prisoner but still keeping her distance.

The flames swelled inside of her and she felt them expel out of her nostrils, which see saw as a flash of azure in her lower peripheral vision. "The war won't ever be over, so long as a usurper is on the throne."

Azula was trying her best to show some resemblance to the woman she used to be—it was proving to be more difficult than she imagined. The fact that she was wearing prison rags was not helping her image either. Without her armor, she just looked like an ordinary teenager—granted, an angry teenager.

Zuko's temper flared as well and he jabbed a finger toward his sister. "This country has had enough of insane rulers. You, nor Father, are fit to be Fire Lord."

The former Fire Lord smirked at her brother. She stole a look at Katara, whose look of concern had not faded. What was wrong with her?

Holding out her hand to Zuko, Katara said, "Don't respond to her, Zuko. She's just egging you on. She's trying to keep what little remains of her alive, that's good."

"It is?" he asked.

Katara nodded.

Azula did not like where this was going.

Two nurses entered the room. One was pushing a wheel chair; the other had a neatly folded garment in her arms. Azula could not tell what it was.

"You will need to remove her binds before we can get the vest on," the nurse with the garment said.

"What if she tries to escape?" Zuko asked.

Katara looked at Azula and then back to Zuko. "In her condition?"

Zuko also looked at her and then seemed convinced. He approached his sister and removed her shackles. Azula tried to move, get up, or move her body at all, but all she did was slump to the floor. It had taken all of her energy just to speak, but now she found it difficult to fight the darkness growing in her head: a dull numbness ached at her muscles as she drifted away to the nightmares that plagued her unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 1: Fire and Ice

Chapter 1  
_Fire and Ice_

The next week was a haze of bleak consciousness and darkness. Azula doesn't remember much. She remembered that nurses had difficulty getting her to eat, but they made her. Her arms were bound in some kind of jacket she had never seen before. Even if they weren't, her body was like broken jelly. She couldn't move, so bending was out of the question. Pills were also forced down her throat. They made her memory sparse, but they also kept her muscles limber and her mind relaxed—in an artificial way.

Azula had a brief memory of that Water Tribe girl in her soft room. She talked to her—wait, did she? Well, it didn't matter. It was so soft. She liked to curl up in the back corner. It was like she could leave the world behind. There wasn't a Fire Nation, no Avatar, no nothing in here. There was only her. It was peaceful, in an odd way, like an amusement park on a day it's closed. Peaceful, but lonely. Time slipped away and minutes melted into days. It was impossible to judge how long she had been in that wonderful padded room. Years? Minutes? Seconds?

That was why when Azula finally came to her senses, she found her head spinning with confusion and disconcertion. Ignoring the fog in her head, she attempted to stand and succeeded with difficulty. Looking down, she could tell why: her legs were skinny from underuse. Did they stop giving her medication? Why would they stop now? The room was lit dimly. Wasn't it bright before? There was a small window near the ceiling. No, with a window that small it was never bright in this room. Damn drugs.

The door clicked behind her. She turned to face it as Katara walked in, escorted by a male orderly.

"She already awake?" the orderly asked, his eyebrows descending.

Katara, on the other hand, did not appear to be surprised or on her guard. "Not that surprising. Did you forget who we're dealing with?"

"Indeed," Azula said, her voice finally reflecting a bit of her old passion. She took a step toward the orderly, who flinched. Azula regarded him with a smirk.

The Water Tribe girl, on the other hand, was not fooled by Azula's desperate antics. "Relax. She can't hurt you with me here."

Looking at the other female, Azula's lower eye lids ascended. "Is that so?"

Katara nodded. "Now, I'm not here to hurt you—quite the opposite."

Azula laughed. How absurd. "You wish to help me? There's nothing wrong with me."

"I'm sure that's what you think, but your actions speak volumes." Katara said. The tendon's in the tan girl's neck tighten a bit in anger that she is trying to keep hidden from Azula.

Turning from Azula, the princess said, "If you find my presence so hateful, you will have a difficult time in your fool's errand."

"You don't have to be so defensive. I just want to help." Katara's eyes flickered with rage.

Azula's face brightened with a wicked smile. "That's the Water Tribe peasant I know!"

"Stop!" Katara yelled. Azula was going to quip at her again, but she stopped in surprise when she saw Katara with a tear running down her cheek. "Just stop. We both know what you were like during the comet. You don't need to pretend. The fact that we were able to beat you is proof enough that you aren't yourself."

"Why do you care what happens to me? I'm going to be locked up for the rest of my life no matter what, right? What does it matter to you?" Azula's flame was beginning to rage, but there was no way for her to express it.

Katara looked at the prisoner, her eyes high with surprise. "That was the first human thing you've said so far today." The younger girl reached out and grasped Azula's shoulders. "You can overcome this."

Through clenched teeth, Azula responded, "There's nothing to overcome, you twit."

Shaking her head, Katara said, "That's what you think now. I'm sure one day you will realize how wrong you were. You will apologize to us."

"Apologize? For what?" Azula asked, a snarl snapping onto her mouth. "For doing my duty? For being the best? For being everything that Zuzu isn't?" She paused and then her eyes gave a sweet, devilish smile. "Or for killing your boyfriend?"

That had done it. Before the water bender even moved, Azula could see Katara's muscle grow rigid. She snapped around, her arms launching upward as water flowed out of her skin. The water turned to ice and plastered Azula against the padded wall of her cell. A fire burned inside of Katara's eyes that matched the flames inside of Azula's heart. That feeling of pure hate.

Azula cackled and said, "Yes, that's it. I can see through you, peasant."

Katara lowered her head so that Azula could not see it anymore. "Someday, you'll regret saying that to me. I'm not sure how or when, but you will."

Rolling her eyes, Azula asked, "Why would I ever do that?"

Feeling the tension in the ice loosen, Azula saw the ice was melting. With a quick jerk, Katara shot the water back into her skin. Azula fell to the floor, which ordinarily wouldn't have been a problem, but with her weak legs and her bound arms, she couldn't prepare herself for the fall. She fell flat on the floor. Padded or not, it still hurt.

Sitting up, Azula yelled, "Why? Why are you here? Why do you care?"

"Because I can feel something inside you. I always could." Katara shook her head, almost as if she almost didn't believe what she was saying. "I can feel it. That you're not that bad. You talk big and you're an arrogant bitch, fine, but so was Zuko. If he can change, I know you can too. You just require more help."

Azula scoffed. "Can you hear yourself talking? I was raised to be ruthless. You may call it insane, but it was the thing that my father admired most about me." She stood up, trying to regain her composure, and walked into her corner. "Leave."

She couldn't see what Katara did after that? Did she want to say something? Did she try to approach her? Whatever that Water Tribe may have done, she ended up walking out despite it. Azula was left alone again. This was just how it had to be, right? She laid back down and curled up. This was how it had to be.


End file.
